Maryland's AI and Deepfake Identity Fraud Law Takes Effect

Maryland Senate Bill 8, Chapter 445 of the 2026 session, approved by Governor Wes Moore on May 12, 2026, took effect October 1, 2026. It amends Criminal Law Section 8-301 to prohibit a person from knowingly, willfully, and with fraudulent intent using artificial intelligence or a deepfake representation to impersonate, falsely depict, or claim to represent another person to cause harm, or to create or distribute false records, and provides that a victim of the prohibited conduct may bring a civil action. The act defines a deepfake representation and adopts the State Finance and Procurement Article definition of artificial intelligence. Chapter text retrieved 2026-10-12.

Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov